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Photo: Mario Tama/2010 Getty Images

Like many people, former governor David Paterson found it pretty easy to endorse Scott Stringer for comptroller back when the Manhattan borough president was running unopposed. Things got more complicated for him when Eliot Spitzer entered the race, since Spitzer not only picked Paterson to be his lieutenant governor in 2006, but was kind enough to get caught patronizing hookers so that Paterson could replace him as governor in 2008. Paterson declined to switch his endorsement, but his Monday campaign outing with Stringer was pretty awkward. When asked why voters should choose Stringer, Paterson replied, "Because I endorsed him." Follow-up questions yielded more painful responses, including, "I’m not going to answer the question of why they should choose Scott over Eliot" and "Scott Stringer is a good choice on his own — it doesn’t have to be a comparison." Unless you plan to vote, that is.